Cosette couldn’t find any other way to make her understand, but to put it boldly. “You have to leave, Charlotte. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you because of me.”
“Don’t be so dramatic. I’ll be fine.”
Cosette put her head in her hands, as Charlotte waved a hand at Davien.
He cleared his throat and answered her earlier query. “I found a paper that I ripped out from the The Lesser Key of Solomon. It speaks of summoning a creature by the power of a sigil, but we don’t know what image to draw without a seer and a wax tablet.” He shook his head. “I had both, but the night I rescued Cosette from the Abbey, there was an accident.”
“Wot happened?” Charlotte asked.
“I had been to a gypsy camp a few days ago. There was a woman there by the name of Vadoma.” He paused, as if it was difficult for him to speak. “She gave me the materials to make the tablet. She said after I had put it all together to bring it back and she would tell me what I wanted to know. The next night, when I returned, she had been . . . killed.”
His gaze shifted to Cosette, and that’s when she knew that she had more than one death on her hands. “It was me, wasn’t it?” she whispered.
Davien hesitated, as if he didn’t want to confirm what she already knew, but his silence spoke volumes. A low moan escaped her, as new tears threatened to spill. “Will this nightmare never cease to end? Shall there be no end in sight to this madness?”
As Davien comforted her, Charlotte spoke up, “So whot happened t’ th’ tablet ye made?”
“I left it at the camp. I was too upset about what had happened to Vadoma that I transformed into the wolf and left my horse behind with the tablet inside the satchel. At the time, I didn’t care about retrieving it, because the future looked as bleak as it always had.”
“Then th’ way I see it,” Charlotte said. “We need t’ get it back.”
“If only it were that simple,” Davien drawled. “The gypsies won’t let me anywhere near that encampment.”
“Then Cosette and I will go.”
He snorted. “You think it will be that easy to stroll into their midst and make such a request. After what happened to Vadoma, they will be on even higher alert, and her grandson, Vano, most of all.” He shook his head. “You have no idea what sort of task you are taking on. I tried for twenty years to break this curse, and you make it seem as if you will succeed with such little attempt.”
Charlotte eyed him steadily. “Sometimes th’ hardest tasks are met with th’ smallest effort. Ye seem t’ forget tha’ Cosette an’ I come from an entirely different background than ye do. We’ve had t’ struggle fer everythin’ we have. At times, it’s been a fight t’ just survive.” She waved a hand around the room. “Ye may not understand tha’, livin’ as ye do in yer castle in th’ sky, but I can guarantee tha’ we won’t give up tryin.’ We have succeeded where others have given up.”
“Fine,” Davien ground out. “Let’s say you find the tablet and, by some miracle, are allowed to take it with you, what then? We still have the problem of finding a seer.”
“No, ye dinna.” Charlotte lifted a challenging brow. “Because I happen t’ know a lady who has th’ gift o’ sight. Ye don’t work at a tavern like Th’ Lion’s Share night after night without gettin’ friendly an’ chattin’ with people.” She tossed her red hair. “So are we goin’ t’ stand here arguin’ aboot it, or are we goin’ t’ get a move on?”
